Indicatob fok washing machines



J. ANDERSON.

INDICATOR FOR WASHING MACHINES- HLED MAR 20. I922.

WASHING MACHINE Patented Jan. 9, 1923.

UNITED STATES JOHN ANDERSON, OF DULUTH, MINNESOTA.

INDICATOR FOR WASHING MACHINES.

Application filed March 20, 1922. Serial No. 545,386.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN Anosnson, a citizen of the United States, residing at Duluth, in the county of St. Louis and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and usefuL Im rovements in Indicators for Washing achines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing. 4

This invention relates to a timing or indicating device for washing machines and is a device more particularly adapted for application to a household washing machine that is frequently left in operation after he ing started and it becomes subsequently desirable to know how long the machine has been operated or the number of revolutions it has made.

The principal object is to provide a coin venient and practical registering unit for i this purpose.

Qther objects and advantages of the in vention, will appear in the further description thereof.

Referring to the accompanying drawing forming part of this application in which like reference characters indicate like parts:

Figure 1 is a front elevation oi the indicating device showing the internal mechanism in dotted lines;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of Figure 1;

Fig re 3 is a top plan view of the device as a plied. to a fragmental portion of a I'gure 4 is an elevation of Figure $3, 100 ing towards the washing machine with paifts thereof in Section ,/'1 represents the body portion of a common washing machine, such for example as that known as the (lainaday machine, and which is operable by an electric motor or the like. 2 represents the gear shift casing of the washing machine upwardly through which the control shaft 3 extends and upon which shaft the control lever l is mounted. By the manipulation of this control lever, which swings hack and forth ovcr the segmental shaped extension 5 below the free end of same, the cylinder of the washing nun chine may be started and stopped. For example to start the cylinder of the washing machine, the pin or plug 6 mounted in the extreme free end of the control lever 4 is raise nd turned untiltthe notch T therein overfa the edge of the hole in the control lever i which will hohhthe pin in its uppeu avafljing machine; and i most position free from engagement wit the segment 5. A suitable leaf or other spring 8 is provided for frictionally holding the pin in such desired position, and the control lever 4, thus being freedfmay he swung in either direction for shifting the gears of the machine to the desired position, when the lever 4 will intermittently swing from one side to the other of the quadrant 5. In the machine here described, the washing cylinder makes five revolutions to each extreme position of the lever 4 and the mechanism of the washing machine is not illustrated nor described as it forms no part of my present invention, it being understood that the indicator may be attached to any washing machine having a reciprocal lever or arm which would actuate the indicator.

ln thewvnshing machine here referred to the segment 5 is provided intermediate of its ends with a depression or notch 9 into which the pin (3 may be adjusted when the lever 4 is positioned over said notch and the pin rotated so that the notch 7 therein will not tend to hold it from descending. as previously described.

Now it is adjacent the segment 5 in this particular machine that I propose to install in any convenient manner my improved in- (li'ator, the dial or face .of which is in dicated at 10. The axial shaft of the indicator is shown at 11 and it carries upon the outer end thereof the indicating arm or pointer 12, the zero stop of which is shown at. 13 Mounted upon the shaft 11 and with in the indicator is the large spur gear 14 meshihg with the pin gear [5 on the shaft 10 and which latter shaft carries a large spur gear 17 meshing with the pin gear 18 on the clutch shaft 19, which latter carries the driving ratchet wheel 20 operated by the push and pull pawls 2t and E22 respet'tivcly, they being carried on the pin 23 in the end of the operating lever 24 which is pivotally I mounted upon the win 25. The push and pull pawls are held 111 engagement with the ratchet wheel 20 by means of a contractile circularly shaped spring 25, the ends of which are engaged within suitable notches in the backs of the pawls.

Th opposite end of the lever 24 is bifurrated as at 27 and provided with a plurality of holes for any desired connection with the reciprocal part of a washing machine other than the one herein shown as in the present emlmdiment the lever 4 forcibly engages the free end of the lever 21 without being connected thereto and the backward stroke of the free end of the lever 24 is accomplished by means of the contractile spiral spring 28 attached thereto and which normally holds the lever inthe position shown in Figure 1 ol' the drawings with the pulling pawl 22 at its extreme conclusion of stroke.

By this mechanism it is seen that as the lever 21 is operated in one direction by the moving part of the washing machine and in the opposite direction by the spiral spring '28 the mechanisnr of the indicator will be operated, slowly rotating the axial shaft 11 which will carrv the pointer 12 about with it and thus indicate to an observer the operation of the washing machine.

As a means for restoring the mechanism to its original unindicating position, I have installed upon the shaft 19, intermediate of the pin gear 1b and the ratchet wheel 20, a jaw clutclu the two halves of which are indicated at 2!) and 30, the latter being rigid with the ratchet wheel 20 and the former rigid with the pin gear 18. so that when the ratchet wheel 20 with its half of the clutch is disengaged longitudinally of the shaft 19 from the other half of the clutch, the entire mechanism will be free to rotate backwardly.

As a means for causing this disengagement of the parts of the clutch, or the re leasing of the clutch, I provide a leaf spring 31 fixed as at 32 to the frame of the mechanism and being bent so as to extend horizontally to adjacent the shaft 19 which it straddles as at 33 behind a suitable collar 34 so that an r-itward movement of the free end of the spring will move the ratchet wheel 20 with its half of the clutch away from the other half of' the clutch. As a means for moving the free end'of the spring I provide a lever 35 atached as at 3(ilto the spring and bent as at 37 with a hu p thereinwhich bears against the side wal 38 of the mechanism, thus, when the freq end of the lever 35 is pressed towards the mechanism or inwardly the opposite end of lthe lever Will pull the free end of the spring with the ratchet wheel 20 outwardly. the-lever being connected to said spring by means of a suitable bolt 36. The free end of the lever 35 may be depressed manually for the return of the mechanism to normal, or, in the installation here showin I have illustrated the indicator being placed in such position in relation to the arm 4 and the segment 5 of the washing machine that the lever 35 protrudes within the notch 9 in the segment 5 so that when the operator or attendant of the machine so adjusts the pin 6 that it falls withim the notch t) it will automaticaly depress the lever 35 and the indicator will he automatically returned to normal.

As a means for returning the remainder of the mechanism back to normal, that is with the exception of the sprocket wheel 20 and its half of the clutch, there is provided a flat spiral spring 40 fixed at one end as at 41 and wound about the axial shaft 11, said spring being provided with a shield 42 which partially overlaps the coil portion of same to keep it from unduly jumping or unwinding. As a means for avoidln undue shock to the mechanism when it is returned to normal by the unwinding action of the spring 40 I engage the gear 14 with the axial shaft 11 by means of the pawl 43 and ratchet wheel H. the latter being keyed to the shaft 11 and the pawl 43 pivotally carried by the gear 14 so that as themeshin gears of the mechanism unwind quickly e115 the pointer comes to a sudden stop against the stop 13, the gears may continue to rotate slightly by the pawl slipping a notch or two on the ratchet wheel 44. This latter mechanism may or may not prove necessary, but I have found it convenient in the mechanism at present in use.

From the foregoing it is evident that I have produced a simple indicating device which may be applied to a washing machine having a reciprocable arm or member which may he cooperatively engaged therewith, though the mechanism may or may not be returnable to normal automatically, as previously described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. The combination with an indicator of the character described for a' machine having a reciprocable part, a graduated dial and an indicating pointer which normally advances step by step by the reciprocation of certain parts of the indicator, of a clutch operating lever extending therefrom, a manually adjustable pin carried by said reciprocable part of the machine to which the indicator is attached whereby the pin may or may not he made to engage the protruding lver -of the indicator and cause the pointer to 'return to zero simultaneously with the stopping of the machine. a

2. An indicator of the character described comprising a graduated dial, an axially mounted pointer thereupon, means for operating the pointer by the reciprocable action of certain parts of the dial and a clutch operating rod extending outwardly of the indicator, and means for governing the operation of said rod to cause the point- 

